If the financial threshold for state support increases, conservative council leaders have warned that county councils cannot afford the hit by a £308m rise in care home costs. According to The County Councils Network (CCN), new research has shown that raising the threshold would push far more people into state care than local authorities could fund under current budgets.
The Conservative leader of Suffolk council, Colin Noble, said the care home system was being sustained mainly by private fee payers, who could be paying up to twice as much as council clients. Therefore, if more people were to qualify for state support, and care home providers received the lower council rates, many providers could be pushed towards bankruptcy.
Colin Noble said : –
“Substantial reductions to social care budgets have left councils with little choice but to negotiate lower fees for their taxpayers’ money, but this means the system is being propped up by private fee payers. This is clearly unsustainable, with many care home providers at a very real risk of collapse.”
